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Category Archives: opinion
Dear Edgar #22 The Fall of the House of Usher
The themes of three earlier stories in particular are each echoed in this story, those being Morella, Berenice and Ligeia. Which is not to say that Edgar was obsessed with putting female characters into soporific states that seem death like, decaying, and wasting away, but it is a theme that comes up time and time again in the early tales. What is odd is that these themes were so prevalent before the wasting disease that would take his wife from him not many years later was diagnosed. Equally the male characters in all these stories react to these tragedies with obsession and madness that echoes how the death of Victoria was to plunge him into a deep alcohol fuelled depression and began his own downward spiral to an early grave.
Occasionally life imitates art in dreadful ways. Continue reading
Posted in book reviews, Dear Edgar, Goth, horror, opinion, Poe, reads
Tagged amreading, book-review, books, Dear Edgar, gothic, horror, Poe, reads
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Patronising Miss Law
Occasionally, I wonder if regular readers of these witterings wonder if I could just once in a while stay on topic… What when it comes down to it is this blog for. Oh sure I talk about writing a lot, … Continue reading
Dear Edgar 16: Silence, a fable
“It was night, and the rain fell; and falling, it was rain, but, having fallen, it was blood.” It is not unreasonable to say that a good half of our Dear Edgar’s out put over the years was poetry. As … Continue reading
Posted in opinion, Poe, reads, retro book reviews
Tagged amreading, Edgar Alan Poe, Poe, poetry, reads
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Dear Edgar~15: Mystification
The editorship of the Richmond Examiner in the 19th century was something of a dangerous occupation. When someone took exception to an editorial they often expressed there views in pointed fashion. Thomas Ritchie, who founded the paper in 1804 witnessed … Continue reading
Posted in amreading, book reviews, Dear Edgar, opinion, Poe, reads
Tagged amreading, books, Dear Edgar, Edgar Alan Poe, reads, writing
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Monomania et le gothique
If a Gothic tale needs one thing to make it a truly Gothic tale, it needs an antagonist in the grip of a profound monomania. Obsessions and obsessional manias are among of the principle building blocks of gothic literature. Be … Continue reading
Masks
This is a post about masks derived from an old posts about masks from 2017. In 2017 I was still writing the first Hannibal Smyth novel, COVID was yet to be a thing and I was not the same person … Continue reading
Posted in big questions, depression, opinion
Tagged depression, mentalhealth, opinion, writerslife
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Are you ready for the apocalypse? by Liz Tuckwell
Introduction by Mark : Elizabeth Tuckwell is a fellow Harvey Duckman writer and the aunt of an old friend of mine. These two things are not connected and we were unaware of the second connection till the old friend read … Continue reading
Posted in amreading, amwriting, big questions, Harvey Duckman, indie writers, indieoctober, indiewriter, opinion, reads
Tagged amreading, amreadinghorror, enviroment, reads, sciencefiction, writers, writerslife
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The Writers Life : An Honest Conversation
What is success, well for me it is readers, it has always been readers. You have to find your own way to judge your success. But as a community writers need to be more honest with each other. ‘Fake it until you make it’ is all very well except that builds false expectations against which we measure ourselves. And that is damaging. Continue reading
Posted in amwriting, depression, indie writers, indiewriter, opinion, writes, writing
Tagged writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtips
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Dear Edgar #13 Shadow – A Parable
YE who read are still among the living; but I who write shall have long since gone my way into the region of shadows. For indeed strange things shall happen, and secret things be known, and many centuries shall pass away, ere these memorials be seen of men. And, when seen, there will be some to disbelieve, and some to doubt, and yet a few who will find much to ponder upon in the characters here graven with a stylus of iron. Continue reading
Posted in amreading, Dear Edgar, fiction, goodreads, Goth, opinion, Poe, quotes, reads
Tagged amreading, amreadinghorror, books, classic reads, Dear Edgar, Edgar Alan Poe, read, reads
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Dear Edgar #12 King Pest
King Pest is also a bit of an odd ball, even amongst other Poe stories. It reveals in description and the grotesque to a far greater extent than even Poe’s usual work. While the story is something akin to a nightmarish romp through a plague ridden London. Think of it as the literary equivalent of a Hieronymus Bosch painting. Continue reading
Posted in amreading, Dear Edgar, horror, humour, opinion, Poe, reads, retro book reviews
Tagged amreading, amreadinghorror, Dear Edgar, Edgar Alan Poe, horror, Poe
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